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.\" $Id: curs_memleaks.3x,v 1.35 2024/03/16 15:35:01 tom Exp $
.TH curs_memleaks 3X 2024-03-16 "ncurses 6.5" "Library calls"
.ie \n(.g \{\
.ds `` \(lq
.ds '' \(rq
.\}
.el \{\
.ie t .ds `` ``
.el   .ds `` ""
.ie t .ds '' ''
.el   .ds '' ""
.\}
.
.de bP
.ie n  .IP \(bu 4
.el    .IP \(bu 2
..
.SH NAME
\fB\%exit_curses\fP,
\fB\%exit_terminfo\fP \-
check for memory leaks in \fIcurses\fR
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
\fB#include <curses.h>
\fBvoid exit_curses(int \fIcode\fP);
.PP
\fB#include <term.h>
\fBvoid exit_terminfo(int \fIcode\fP);
.PP
\fI/* deprecated (intentionally not declared in curses.h or term.h) */
\fBvoid _nc_freeall(void);
\fBvoid _nc_free_and_exit(int \fIcode\fP);
\fBvoid _nc_free_tinfo(int \fIcode\fP);
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
These functions are used to simplify analysis of memory leaks in the
\fI\%ncurses\fP library.
.PP
Any implementation of curses must not free the memory associated with
a screen, since (even after calling \fB\%endwin\fP(3X)), it must be available
for use in the next call to \fB\%refresh\fP(3X).
There are also chunks of memory held for performance reasons.
That makes it hard to analyze curses applications for memory leaks.
When using the specially configured debugging version of the
\fI\%ncurses\fP library,
applications can call functions which free those chunks of memory,
simplifying the process of memory-leak checking.
.PP
Some of the functions are named with a \*(``_nc_\*('' prefix
because they are not intended for use in the non-debugging library:
.TP 5
\fB\%_nc_freeall\fP
This frees (almost) all of the memory allocated by \fI\%ncurses\fP.
.TP 5
\fB\%_nc_free_and_exit\fP
This frees the memory allocated by \fI\%ncurses\fP
(like \fB\%_nc_freeall\fP),
and exits the program.
It is preferred over \fB\%_nc_freeall\fP since some of that memory
may be required to keep the application running.
Simply exiting (with the given exit-code) is safer.
.TP 5
\fB\%_nc_free_tinfo\fP
Use this function if only the low-level terminfo functions (and
corresponding library) are used.
Like \fB\%_nc_free_and_exit\fP, it exits the program after freeing memory.
.PP
The functions prefixed \*(``_nc\*('' are normally not available;
they must be configured into the library
at build time using the \fB\%\-\-disable-leaks\fP option.
That compiles-in code that frees memory that normally would not be freed.
.PP
The \fB\%exit_curses\fP and \fB\%exit_terminfo\fP functions
call \fB\%_nc_free_and_exit\fP and \fB\%_nc_free_tinfo\fP if
the library is configured to support memory-leak checking.
If the library is not configured to support memory-leak checking,
they simply call \fBexit\fP.
.SH RETURN VALUE
These functions do not return a value.
.SH PORTABILITY
These functions are not part of X/Open Curses;
nor do other implementations of curses provide a similar feature.
.PP
In any implementation of X/Open Curses, an application can free part
of the memory allocated by curses:
.bP
The portable part of \fB\%exit_curses\fP can be freed using \fB\%delscreen\fP,
passing the \fISCREEN\fP pointer returned by \fB\%newterm\fP.
.IP
In some implementations, there is a global variable \fBsp\fP
which could be used, e.g., if the screen were only initialized
using \fB\%initscr\fP.
.bP
The portable part of \fB\%exit_terminfo\fP can be freed
using \fB\%del_curterm\fP.
.IP
In this case, there is a global variable \fB\%cur_term\fP which can be
used as parameter.
.SH SEE ALSO
\fB\%curses\fP(3X),
\fB\%curs_initscr\fP(3X),
\fB\%curs_terminfo\fP(3X)
